Parties given until April 11 to seek ‘dominant party’ tag

MANILA – Political parties joining the May 9 polls have until the second week of April to file their petition for accreditation for the determination of the dominant majority party and the dominant minority party.

“A political party duly registered with the Commission may file a verified petition for accreditation for the determination of the Dominant Majority Party, the Dominant Minority Party, the 10 Major National Parties, and the 2 Major Local Parties. For the purposes of the May 9, 2022 National and Local Elections, the petition shall be filed not later than April 11, 2022,” the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said in Resolution No. 10770 on Friday.

The petitions must be filed with the Clerk of the Commission online at clerkofthecommission@comelec.gov.ph.

Parties have to pay PHP10,100 as filing and legal research fee and shall be paid at the Cash Division of the Commission.

It also listed six criteria on how to determine the dominant majority party, the dominant minority party, the 10 major national parties, and the two major local parties, which include the established record of the said parties by taking into account their showing in past elections; the number of incumbent elective officials belonging to them on the last day of the filing of the Certificate of Candidacy (COC); and their identifiable political organizations and strengths as evidenced by their organized chapters.

Part of the criteria is their ability to fill a complete slate of candidates from the municipal level to the position of president; the number of women candidates fielded by political parties from the municipal level to the position of president; and other analogous circumstances that may determine their relative organizations and strengths.

“The petitioner shall include in its petition pertinent data and statistics to support its arguments in accordance with the above criteria, as well as the submission of the latest Sworn Information Update Statement (SIUS) duly filed before the Commission,” the Comelec said.

As for the computation of their weighted average points, it added that a party’s ability to field a complete slate of candidates from the municipal level up to the position of president is given the highest weighted average points of 40 points.

The Comelec said the number of incumbent elective officials belonging to a party on the last day of filing of COC is given the weighted average of 20 points and the organizational structure of a party is given the weighted average of 20 points.

The capacity of the political parties to field at least 30 percent women candidates and their history or the number of years of existence of a party will be given 10 points each.

The dominant majority party will be entitled to the fifth copy of the election returns, and seventh copy of the certificates of canvass, during the counting of the votes while the dominant minority party will be entitled to the sixth copy of the election returns, and eighth copy of the certificates of canvass.

The ninth to the 18th copies of election returns and certificates of canvass shall be given to the 10 accredited major national parties while the 19th and 20th copies of election returns and certificates of canvass shall be provided to the two accredited major local parties.